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Grand Central Publishing

Cane River (Oprah's Book Club)

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A New York Times bestseller and Oprah's Book Club Pick-the unique and deeply moving saga of four generations of African-American women whose journey from slavery to freedom begins on a Creole plantation in Louisiana. Beginning with her great-great-great-great grandmother, a slave owned by a Creole family, Lalita Tademy chronicles four generations of strong, determined black women as they battle injustice to unite their family and forge success on their own terms. They are women whose lives begin in slavery, who weather the Civil War, and who grapple with contradictions of emancipation, Jim Crow, and the pre- Civil Rights South. As she peels back layers of racial and cultural attitudes, Tademy paints a remarkable picture of rural Louisiana and the resilient spirit of one unforgettable family. There is Elisabeth, who bears both a proud legacy and the yoke of bondage... her youngest daughter, Suzette, who is the first to discover the promise-and heartbreak-of freedom... Suzette's strong-willed daughter Philomene, who uses a determination born of tragedy to reunite her family and gain unheard-of economic independence... and Emily, Philomene's spirited daughter, who fights to secure her children's just due and preserve their dignity and future. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Cane River presents a slice of American history never before seen in such piercing and personal detail. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Warner Books


Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 1, 2005


Edition ‏ : ‎ Oprah's Book Club


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 543 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0446615889


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 84


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.15 x 1.65 x 6.7 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #125,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #64 in Black & African American Historical Fiction (Books) #701 in Family Saga Fiction #914 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Must read!!!
Lalita Tademy is an incredibly talented writer. Her words take you by your hand and bring you to Cane River in the late 1860's. I looked up pictures of Cane River and the slave houses that are still standing today; it is EXACTLY how I pictured it from Tademy's description! Tademy doesn't just tell you the story of 3 generations of women, she takes you inside their minds so you can see where they pull strength from in the absolute worse circumstances. This book is obviously the product of extensive research so you have the opportunity to learn a lot from it. So many of my African American friends refuse to look into their past; there is a great fear of learning about the White that runs through their blood. Although I fully respect that, I'm most impressed by Lalita Tademy for her tenacity to research and learn who she is regardless of the deep pain that haunts it. Along side, she also found her African American heritage oppressed into slavery. She is so proud of the slaves in her family for their resistance, survival and tight family ties. She used that pride to bless us with this wonderful book to keep their story alive and it is written brilliantly. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2023 by Cynthia Meyer
    • A worth while read
This is a powerful and interesting story and very well researched. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2025 by Amazon Customer
    • ver educational
Lots of knowledge to be gained from reading this novel. The writing is great. The stories are compelling. Good read.
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2025 by Leo Johnson
    • Such a courageous people!
When I decided to read this book, I realized that I had it in my Kindle Library already - I have a very large library! I had bought it in 2013 and had not read it yet. In the meantime, I had already read a few of Lalita Tademy's books so I was thrilled to find this, too, was written by her. This is book one of the history of her family. Lalita began to get really engrossed into her family background and searched until she could find more history. Tremendous reading. Her writing style is impeccable and a joy to read. The story, itself, is very hard to read though because of the content. Here it is 2023 and, after all the reading I've done on black people and their past, I am "always" shocked that they could have come through so much and not given up. They continued on knowing that education was a way out of slavery. And they did so in spite of those who decided to hold them back at whatever the cost. Lalita - thank you so much for writing this book. It opened, for me, a whole new way of looking into the faces of these people - especially with the help of the pictures. I will never forget this book and am anxiously waiting to buy the next book, Red River. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2023 by Nicole
    • A painful, memorable journey
I enjoyed getting to know Ms. Tademy's ancestors, and both labored and savored the absolutely painful journey to the Cane & Red Rivers. Many American blacks - including myself - will find similar parallels in our own family trees - bringing front and center the origins of our varying shades of vanilla, caramel & mocha sometimes whispered but never addressed. I wanted this book to last for a lifetime so I would never have to let go of Elizabeth, Suzette, Philomene and Emily - then I remembered these same women had been a part of my life all along in my own great-grandmothers, grandmothers, and Great-Aunts. Although I never knew her, I learned my great great-grandmother on my mother's side was born into slavery - she and several other ancesters were owned by the Cherokee tribe, & my mother's mother was born on a reservation in 1912. I remember as a child hearing my grandparents talk in soft tones in the livingroom early each morning - mostly what I overheard was about trials and tribulations - but neither my grandparents, great-aunts or others ever spoke about such things around us children. I'm grateful for that. In fact, almost no members of my family ever spoke of hate, racism, segregation or the myriad indignities some family members must have suffered in their lives in the presence of us children. My father's side of the family is heavily French. My father's mother was also sensitive about skin color - and also did not approve of my parent's marriage because she thought my mother was too dark to marry my light-skinned father. After my parents married and we children came along, my father's mother refused to allow us children into her home, so would hand out our Christmas presents to us while we stood on her front porch. As my father's mother grew older, of her eight grandchildren we were the only grandchildren who took care of her before she passed away after a massive stroke. We had known all along that she had specifically disinherited us in her will as "the issue of my oldest son" - and had left us a token $1 to split among the five of us. Our light-skinned cousins came to town only long enough to attend her funeral, collect the insurance money and clean out her bank accounts. Of my four sisters and brother, only my youngest sister and brother passed her "paper bag" test (skin color ligher than a brown paper bag). The demons of skin color preference are still a very sensitive, dehumanizing practice in America - even today some blacks are every bit as opinionated as some whites. I found it interesting that Ms. Tademy allowed the stories of the lives of Elizabeth, Suzette, Philomene & Emily to unfold with very few personal judgements on the actions of either slaves, slaveowners or the gens de colour de libre (black citizens living in the U.S. long before Europeans arrived on its shores). In fact, unfolding the story in this manner allows the reader to come to his/her own conclusions about motives, personalities and the character of each subject - black and white - to create their own impression of the strengths, weaknesses and motivations of each person - and thereby pass whatever judgement the reader sees fit. The central theme of this absolutely absorbing family biography is persecution and slavery - and becomes even more revealing of the strength inherent in women - all women, and their ability to get up time and again after being knocked down and held down by life, and to keep going even in the most inhuman of circumstances - to put one foot in front of the other and move themselves forward because "God don't make no junk". Although slavery is the most unnatural expression of man's perversion and arrogance - it's affect has indisputably corrupted the potential of generations - but slavery's assault could not and did not defeat the power of the human spirit or the ability to endure with perseverance, imagination and innate strength what would otherwise be unendurable. The world will never know the legion of irreplaceable giants of industry, medicine, law and the arts who were lost to the greed, arrogance and unspeakable evil of slavery - or the price that will ultimately be paid for its institution. Thank you, Ms. Tademy, for the telling of this unforgettable saga because for many it reads like our own very personal autobiography. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2011 by Tutt
    • Worth reading
From slave to limited freedom. Society puts such limitations on what is allowed and what's not. It's wrong to put controls on human beings who don't have your values. The interracial relationships here were much healthier than the socially accepted ones. Unfortunately, it appears that strong prejudices are still interfering with many people's behavior. Why can't people live and let live? Mind your own business. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2025 by GGReader
    • Interesting perspective
I read this upon recommendation by my sister-in-law. While this wasn't my typical interest (I prefer thrillers or mysteries), it was very enjoyable for a change of pace and a different insight into plantation life and history. I'm the kind of person who can put down a book I don't enjoy after 40 pages or so and walk away forever. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a masterpiece of literature, but Tademy did do a beautiful job of mixing her own family history with enough fiction to build an interesting story that holds your attention to the end. I think I liked the idea of this book project and how it was put together even more than the novel itself. As I said before - great for a change of pace and a (probably) more accurate depiction of plantation life for slaves and masters. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2012 by M Scottsdale

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